Artemis stood, still shell-shocked, in Wally's arms. They had gotten flabbier than she remembered. Just a lack of the hardened muscle that once whisked her into his arms. Maybe it was the doughnuts he always picked up on the way to school, or after school, or if it was a special occasion, or if he decided he needed them like air, as always. Maybe he stopped being a hero. Artemis put that out of her mind immediately. Wally would never… would he?

She hadn't kept close tabs on everyone for a reason. Only enough to be sure that they hadn't picked up a lead against her or that they wouldn't cross paths while Raq or Jade dropped off their kids for daycare. Not that Artemis cared. No, she would never be "Auntie Artemis", and she was okay with that. At least that's what she told herself when she cried into her pillow, Jason right outside her door being too afraid to knock. She knew he was there. But he wasn't some regular gal pal that would listen about the latest breakup of a love-struck teenager while offering up chocolate and advice.

Artemis knew the life she chose for herself.

One where she couldn't be around people because her mind might short circuit because of the after effects of the Lazarus Pit.

One where she couldn't be free to be a career woman and have that nuclear family you would see in old movies.

One where the person hugging her couldn't know she existed. Until now at least.

That was when the voice spoke in her head. "Artemis, it's you. You're not dead."

"M'gann?" The broken whisper of a response was what broke Artemis from her near comatose state. She pushed the light touch out of her mind, refusing to acknowledge it. Then she pushed out of Wally's arms, reaching for a knife she had in her closet not three feet away.

Wally put up his hands, palms out, in a gesture of goodwill. "Listen, Arty, we just wanted to see you. It's kind of a natural response after thinking you were dead for six years."

"We?" Artemis could feel the leather grip on the tips of her fingers when the others crowded closer to the doorway. All of them. There. At once. It was her worst nightmare played back and all she wanted to do was pinch herself and wake up. Fall down a rabbit hole. Something to get away from it all.

"Everyone just wanted to see you," Dick pushed his way to the front. The sunglasses hanging on the bridge of his nose gave way to those mocking blue eyes Artemis once knew so well. They looked cold now, impersonal. She had only ever seen that kind of look from the big bat himself. God, had everyone on the Team just fallen into their own nightmares?

Her hand wrapped all the way around the handle and yanked it off the wall, putting it between them and her. The shiny blade made the message very clear of what would happen if anyone got any closer. "I don't want to see them. Or you. Leave, now."

"I'm going to have to go with no," Dick mocked her, using her own words from their previous encounter. He crossed his arms and leaned against the wall just beside her door.

Artemis lowered the weapon. It wasn't having an effect on anyone there, she could see that. Her argument formed in her head as if a sculptor was taking his time forming every curve of every letter to perfection. "Listen, if I wanted to see you, any of you, I would've found you myself. I chose to put my life on a different path than yours. Now if you have any respect, or love," she would never admit it, but her eyes flicked to Wally for just a second, "or whatever it is you feel for me at this point, left then I want you to leave. Never come back, just leave."

"I can't do that, sis," Jade pushed Wally aside from where he was hogging the center stage of Artemis's perspective.

"Jade." Artemis wants to say "every girl for herself" and end the argument, but she can't. The words are stuck in her throat like undercooked pasta.

"What am I supposed to tell Mom when I go to pick up my daughter, your niece? Just casually slip in that she shouldn't have been crying for six years? Tell her that her daughter is living in an apartment only a drive away? Or should I tell her that you're killer now? That would make her so proud." Jade kept her voice level, knowing there was no point in shouting.

"You've made your point," Artemis whispered, low and on the brink of becoming a threat.

"Did you know she put up all the family photos we have? Sure, Dad isn't in most of them. But guess who has the biggest picture of the lot; all framed and pretty, even has an engraving on it: 'Artemis Lian Crock, loving daughter and valiant hero, she will be missed'."

"Stop, Jade," Artemis whispered again, just barely louder with the edge becoming that much more noticeable.

"Maybe, just maybe, I should take her to that empty grave we always put flowers on and tell her just how much you appreciate it. Seeing as you're staying with some other killer, spending your nights doing who knows what, while you could've just taken a minute to come say hi. You could've written a letter, mailed it to us and been half way round the world by the time we read it. You could've saved us six years worth of tissues. Who knows, maybe that could've been put into your college fund so you could actually go back to living your life again?"

On reflex, Artemis threw the knife in her hand. It barely sideswiped her sister and landed in the door frame. "Goddamn it, Jade!" Artemis raised the volume considerably. She held her head with her now empty hands. "I can't go back to that life! This is what I have now: knives, guns, and spandex that blood never quite washes out of."

"Why not? Give me one good reason why you can't."

"Fine, I'll give you a reason." Artemis sat on the edge of her bed, giving up her defensive position. "Did you know I have a tendency to snap? Like off the walls, stark raving, waving a knife snap? It happens because I'm not supposed to be alive. I'm not meant to be walking around let alone go to college."

Wally bent down to be eye level with her. Taking her hands in his and not flinching when she pulled them back immediately. "Artemis," Her name was spoken so softly, those lingering feelings that never disappeared welling up in his chest. "We can get you help. Anything you need."

Artemis worked up a plan within seconds, thankful that M'gann didn't force herself into her mind and figure everything out. She decided to play the victim, give up and let them think everything was going to be okay. "I-I'll think about it. Okay?" The tears that shone in her eyes had been forced back ever since she saw a single familiar face.

Wally, the sucker, fell for it immediately. "Sure, whatever you want." That same dopey smile cascaded onto his face and brightened up his features with something he hadn't felt in a while. Hope.

"Just leave me to think. I'll talk to you guys later." Artemis flinched when Wally pressed a kiss to her forehead.

The rest of the bunch left the room. Jade exchanged a suspicious look with Dick before leaving, a heavy translation to "you know what you have to do". Dick nodded before filing out after them, sparing a glance to Artemis. The steel was back in those grey eyes before he even tore his blue ones away.

M'gann let Jason back down gently enough, leaving without apologizing as she was too deep into her own thoughts. As Dick passed by the young man he still considered his brother, he whispered, "If she tries to skip town, or so much as even leave this apartment, you call me."

Jason smirked, a snappy, "Or what?" slipping out.

"Or I lock you in a room with Alfred; he's still pissed about you not even coming to say hi to him." Dick smirked back when Jason gulped down a ball of nervousness. Alfred had that effect on people; a simple stare down would make a mob boss admit to their secret love of wearing pink underwear.

"Will do," Jason whispered back before shutting the door behind him.

Once the apartment was deemed "hero free" Artemis came out of her room. The first thing she did was punch Jay square across the jaw. The second was going to the kitchen and grabbing a spoon and carton of rocky road. Jason could hear her cry as he stood outside her door, wondering if he should comfort her.

He stayed consistent with all those other times and just walked away.

~JLH~JLH~JLH~JLH~

Wally sprinted home, a smile still on his face. When he got home he was surprised to find Linda waiting outside his door, Chinese takeout and chemistry textbooks in hand.

"Hey, babe, what're you doing here?" He fumbled with the key to his door. A bout of nervousness overcame him. He wasn't cheating on her with Artemis, but why did it feel like he was?

A/N: Sorry, a million times sorry. I never thought that my bad updating would get this bad. It's been months. Damn it, sorry. Well, I've been in a shitty mood recently and thus was born. I was in a bad place when I started HbaT, so it's just as well that I write this story in a bad place. Really helps channel all those emotions that should be cried out into a pillow. Yeah, this story really isn't a happy thing. At all. I don't think I've written anything happy in a long time now that I look at it. Well, isn't that just dandy. Whatever, have a nice day if you can after I've given you this emotion-based shit storm.

Read. Enjoy. Review.